In the realm of utilities in buildings, channel systems are used to which lines, for example, for water, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and/or electric installations can easily be attached by means of suitable fasteners such as, for instance, pipe clamps and channel nuts. Channel systems are also fitted with devices for suspending components whose rod elements can likewise be attached to the channel systems by means of suitable fasteners.
A so-called C-shape mounting channel as disclosed, for example, in German utility model DE 87 15 256 U1, is often used for such a channel system. The interior space enclosed by the mounting channel is accessible from the outside through an installation opening that runs along the longitudinal extension of the mounting channel and that is laterally delimited by edges. The installation opening has a clear width running perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of the mounting channel and that is smaller than the corresponding internal dimension of the interior space of the mounting channel.
German patent application DE 44 21 252 A1 discloses a fastener with which a rod element that has a thread, at least in a certain area, can be arranged on a mounting channel. The fastener has an engaging part that can be inserted and that can engage behind edges of the installation opening of the mounting channel, whereby the engaging part has an opening with an internal thread for the rod element, a stop plate for making contact with the outside of the mounting channel having a hole through which the rod element passes, and a flexible connection element that connects the engaging part to the stop plate at a distance from each other. The engaging part has a width that is smaller than the clear width of the installation opening, and a length that is greater than the clear width of the installation opening.
In order to arrange the rod element such as, for example, a threaded rod, on the mounting channel, first of all, a nut such as a hexagonal nut, is screwed, as the nut element, sufficiently far onto a thread of the rod element, so that this section of the rod element can still be attached in the internal thread of the engaging part. Subsequently, this section of the rod element having the thread is passed through the hole in the stop plate and screwed into the opening of the engaging part. Once the engaging part has been inserted through the installation opening into the mounting channel, the engaging part is rotated in the interior space of the mounting channel in that the fastener or the rod element is rotated and thus brought into a position where it engages behind the edges of the installation opening. In this position of the engaging part, the nut that was previously screwed onto the rod element can be screwed in the direction of the stop plate whereby, once the nut has come into contact with the stop plate, the engaging part is moved in the direction of the stop plate until the fastener is detachably secured to the mounting channel. The flexible connection element becomes deformed during the securing procedure, thereby reducing the distance between the engaging part and the stop plate until the engaging part makes contact with the edges of the installation opening.